Read carefully the following excerpt and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 WORDS, in which you should: 1) summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then 2) comment on whether physical trauma is more valid than psychological trauma. You can support yourself with information from the excerpt. Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. Write your response on ANSWER SHEET THREE.
What Most People Don’t Understand about Psychological Trauma In medicine, professionals use the word trauma (创伤) to refer to physical damage to body parts. On the other hand, psychological trauma, loosely defined, refers to another type of wound: any past event that creates significant hardship and impairment in the present, at least one month after it occurred. Many think the severity of psychological trauma is about what happened to the person when in reality, it’s more about how the mind and body register what happened. It doesn’t need to be as serious as a rape—it can, in some cases, be the way a coach glared at you after you erred on the field, if you’re an athlete, for example. Just like with physical wounding, psychological wounds or trauma may simply need a little space, time, and tender loving care from another human, such as a romantic partner, parent, colleague, or friend in order to heal. Other psychological wounds may demand professional intervention.
Some people think physical trauma is more valid than psychological trauma. This is not always the case and often it isn’t. Because they are visible to our five senses, physical wounds are more likely to be understood and validated by others as painful, according to trauma specialist, Jaime Marich. Unfortunately, when a psychological wound is continually invalidated by others, it can add to the pain, similar to applying salt to a cut, or wood to a fire. We’ve all been told "leave it in the past," or "get over it" when we’re suffering because of something that happened to us that’s still significantly affecting us. These platitudes, while often well-intentioned, never help. The trauma survivor is usually already suffering enough, and this can make their suffering worse by making them feel at fault for having suffering in the first place. Write your response on ANSWER SHEET THREE.
The Invisible Trauma Causes More Harm
The reading material sheds light on what is commonly misunderstood about psychological trauma. It points out that psychological trauma is often neglected but in fact it is as valid as physical wound, if not more so. Believing that the invisible psychological trauma is more harmful, I cannot agree more with this view.
The severity of psychological trauma lies in that it will frequently remind the victim of the painful experience in the years ahead and thus render him or her unable to live a normal life. For example, a child who was sexually harassed may be afraid of coming into a stable relationship as an adult because that is reminiscent of the past suffering.
What makes it worse is that psychological trauma, unlike physical wound, is invisible. It leaves no mark that appeals to our five senses. As a result, those affected by psychological trauma are often mistakenly thought of as mawkish or sentimental. Whenever they attempt to seek aid or solicit advice, what they get, if not derision, is such platitudinous replies as "you should focus on the future, not the past." Such a trite response, instead of providing comfort, causes further harm.
Therefore, it is imperative that the validity of psychological wound be recognized so that the victims will get their due care and treatment.
本题讨论身体创伤与精神创伤，指出精神创伤给人们带来的伤害通常被忽视。实际上精神创伤对人们的影响并不小于身体创伤。根据写作要求，文章首先应当总结概括材料中内容，再就“身体创伤是否比精神创伤更有根据”这一问题给出自己的观点。文章结构可安排如下： 第一段：简要概括材料内容，提出自己的看法——看不见的精神创伤通常影响更大。 第二段：列出理由论证自己的观点。首先，指出精神创伤的一个严重影响：频繁使人想起过去的痛苦，使人无法正常生活。之后再进一步指出精神创伤不像可以看得见的身体创伤，所以往往不被他人理解，结果就是加剧了精神创伤给人们带来的伤害。 第三段：总结全文，提出建议——我们应该承认精神创伤的合理性，让遭受精神创伤的人得到应有的关心和治疗。